30 before 30

Oh ya'll it's been a long and arduous weekend... Not quite the break from the long and arduous week that I was hoping for :/ Boyfriend came down with the stomach flu so we were stuck in most of the weekend. It did give me time to sit down and plan out this 30 things before I turn 30 nonsense that I thought up last week. 

Sitting down to write down the list of 30 things was more difficult in some ways and easier than I thought in others. I wanted it to be filled with fun things that I never allow myself time to do, or things that I've always said that I wanted to do but never took time to do it because I figure there's always time later. I thought it would be important to add some things that I was scared of as well, or things that I've never properly dealt with in my life.

I want to enter my 30th year, the third decade of my life, in the best place physically, emotionally, and spiritually than I was in my 20s. I want to use the experiences that I've had in my 20s for the good of myself, finally. I've changed and grown a lot. I've redefined my faith. I've graduated college twice. I've found my dream career that I truly feel is a calling of God. I've lived with roommates and on my own. I got a dog and a cat, that I've kept alive so far haha. I've loved and lost, been single and in a relationship. I've gotten a tattoo, dyed my hair (a lot). Rekindled my love for theater. I've been to a foreign country, and tons of places in the US. I've had a great time in my 20s. 

But now that fun time is coming to a close. I have to finally become that responsible, put-together, adult that I always dreamed of becoming haha

But first: THE LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Develop a last morning routine: this is something I've struggled with all of my life. Once I'm up I really love being up early, give me some coffee and I'm a peppy morning person. However, I've never been one to get up early enough to actually have a leisurely breakfast, or have a quiet time, or workout in the morning. I'd like to change that though. I'd love not to get up 10 minutes later than I really should and have to throw myself together to get out the door.

2. Feel comfortable with my body: never in my life have I been comfortable with how I look. Which is exhausting. I can remember being so young, elementary school age, and feeling like I needed to diet or workout or change myself but just not knowing how. Not much has changed. But it should. I should be able to change myself mind or body to come to a place where I can accept who I am and not tie my worth to the size of my jeans. I'm not saying that I don't need to change things to get to a healthier place of acceptance, but I think it's a two way street that I need to walk down both sides.

3. Take more vitamins: I suck at this! I've started and stopped a vitamin routine DOZENS of times. There's just something about remembering to take a vitamin in the morning that I simply cannot do. Maybe this one ties into having a good morning routine.

4. Find doctors I like: I really need to stop going to the MinuteClinic only when I've had a fever of 103 for 3 days. I need to find doctors that I trust and visit them like normal people.

5. Learn to trust in God's timing: This is definitely going to be a tough one. But I've got to find some way to let go of all the hang ups I have about things I don't have in my life. When I turned 20 I imagined I'd be married with at least 2 kids by now, but that wasn't God's plan for my life, and that needs to be okay.

6. Daily prayer journal: When I was younger I used to write my prayers down every day. It was a way to spend time looking over my day and the goals I had for the days to come. It was a time to grow closer to God and maybe trust in His plan. Even if I don't make this a prayer journal, I think it would be nice to start some kind of memory thing so that I could remember all the things in my life that happen even if they seem insignificant.

7. Have a better savings plan: I have a savings account, sure, but I'm not actively building my wealth through it. I need to be better about that.

8. Make a dent in my reading list: I have a reading list 1000 miles long. Classics and new age. It grows constantly, and I don't make time for reading like I used to. I should change that.

9. Cook Book Challenge: I'm not sure how to tackle this one, or what exactly it means, but I want to cook something. Something special and wonderful. Something really difficult. I don't know if I want to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook like in Julie and Julia (you know that movie with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep), but something along those lines maybe. Maybe a shorter cook book haha

10. Take a glass blowing class: I've always wanted to do this, and they're usually super expensive, but I should just rip the band aid off and do it. I think it would be so fun!

11. Ride on a train: I've ridden in trains before (don't freak out) but never cross country, or to a destination. I've never ridden a train as a form of travel, and I think that would be really fun.

12. Travel: This one I'm going to leave kind of vague. I want to go somewhere I've never been, or experience some place in a way I haven't done before. I don't want to tie myself down to one place or experience, I'll just say travel. Somewhere.

13. Take a road trip: Longer than ones I've taken before. One where you stop at all the silly stops along the way to see the world's biggest ball of yarn and stuff like that.

14. Get another tattoo (sorry mom): This one I've been planning for a while, and I need to just do it.

15. Organize my work paperwork better: This is one that I'm sure is surprising for most people because I've always been such a super organized person, but there's something about work that makes it impossible for me to find a good way to stay organized. I develop a system and it just doesn't stick for long. I'll change that.

16. Go ice skating: I've honestly never done this before!

17. Host Friendsgiving: I really wanted to do this last year, but it just didn't work out well. I just love the idea of cooking a really yummy and semi-fancy meal for all of my friends. Maybe this can pair well with the cookbook challenge.

18. Have a once in a lifetime meal: 5 star restaurant, ridiculous amounts of money, so many courses, full for days, worth every calorie and penny kind of meal. 

19. Have more intentional friendships: I need to be better about spending regular time with my friends, talking to them on the phone, texting more, emailing more, catching up more. I'm so bad at this and I'm not really sure why. I will be better though.

20. Run a half marathon: again. I don't know why this one came to my head, but I just really want to. 

21. Take a photography class: maybe I can finally learn how to use my super fancy camera I bought years ago.

22. Complete a photo challenge: like one of those take a photo a day kind of things. Not just doing half of one like I usually do.

23. Spend a weekend unplugged: a phone just for phone calls, imagine that. No social media, no internet, no texting. Just genuine face to face enjoyment.

24. Take piano lessons: I've been wanting to learn to play the piano since I was 5. I'd say it's about time.

25. Shoot a gun: this is something that completely terrifies me. I hate guns. Hate them. Terrified of them. But I should learn how :/

26. Read/watch the news daily: facebook should not be my only source of worldly news...

27. See SNL in person: I would love love love to watch a live taping of SNL. It's gonna be tough to pull off, but I want to at least try!

28. Learn to drive a stick shift: I've attempted this several times with poor results. I've got the general idea, but it's not a skill I'd take onto the road, around real people, that I could potentially kill.

29. Crochet an afghan: or at least finish the one I started. A huge, snuggly one.

30. Throw a big birthday bash: and love every minute of it!

I actually also started working towards #2 this weekend :) I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm starting another whole30 on Monday, with no definite end date. I'm going to cheat some, I already know this because one of the biggest things I learned about whole30 last time, was the importance of moderation. But, as much of a hassle as it was, and as much as I felt as I was missing out on things, I felt so good about myself last time. I felt confident about everything that I put into my body, and thusly felt really good about my body and the good changes I was making.

So let the countdown journey begin!

<3 ME

Long Time No See

Why hello there friends!

It's been quite a while since my last blog post and the end of my Whole30 journey. Things have been quite hectic since then. Things have been beyond ridiculously busy at work, there have been birthdays and celebrations, trips and no-getting-out-of-bed days. There have been hopeful dreams followed by many "yes's" and "no's" from God.
I've stuck with some Whole30 meals, but (especially lately) things have slid quite a lot. Stress can do that to you I'm afraid. Roomie and I are actually planning a new Whole30 journey (don't worry, that's not what I'm writing to tell you).

Here's what's been on my mind lately, and why I'm coming to you all about it:

As some of you may know, I'm turning 30 this year. In 7 months and 21 days to be exact, but who's counting...
As some of you may also know, I don't do well with birthdays... especially "big" milestone ones that are supposed to be some kind of mark of how amazing my life is and how much I've achieved and accomplished. Heck, I had a hard time with my 20th birthday if that tells you anything about me haha
So, I'm a little bit less than excited to reach this milestone. In fact when Boyfriend asked if I wanted to throw a big party this year, lets just say my response was quite tearful :/

Now, I realize that 30 is still so young and I have so much of my life left, blah blah blah But here's the thing. I don't want to dread getting older. I don't want milestones like this to make me dwell on all the things that I don't have in my life that I would like to, but don't have tons of control over. I want to trust that God has the perfect plan in my life, and I want to somehow learn to trust in His perfect timing. Which is something I've struggled with all of my life. In my journey of faith with God, trusting in His timing is the absolute hardest thing for me. I was quite a control freak in my younger, more youthful days, and believe it or not I've mellowed QUITE a bit (ask anyone, seriously, it's a miracle). But that portion of my personality that likes order, and predictability, and monotonous schedules has always yearned for God to give me a life that simply has the things that I want when I think it would be a good time in my life to have them. (which I'm sure is precisely the reason that He has not designed my life that way, because if my life was wrapped up in a pretty little bow like that, then what would I need Him for?)

So this desire of wanting to find some way to approach this milestone birthday with excitement instead of dread, and wanting to find a way to fully trust in God's timing in my life and not allow comparison to be the thief of joy in my life, brought me to an idea. What if, I made a list. A top "30" things I wanted to accomplish in my life before I reach the big 3-0. Now, I've been slow to the party so I don't have a full year left, but I do have 7 months. Surely I should be able to accomplish something by then. Would that help me change my perspective? If instead of just wasting away my 29th year on this planet, because I'm dreading the end of my 20's and everything that being 30 will bring. I mean, I'm going to finally have to be a real adult.... that sounds like the best and worst thing all rolled into one haha

So, I was settled on it. A great idea! 30 things to do before I'm 30!

But, where do I start? Do I even have 30 things I want to accomplish? And that thought is what brings me to you guys :)

I need some help. Some of you are already 30, some of you not. Some of you are quickly approaching it just like myself. What are some things you wish you had done before you were 30? Some habits you wish you had formed, an important lesson you wish you had known, something you could've done to better set up your future, or something that if I don't make time for it now I definitely won't make time for it in my 30s or 40s or 50s? Help me compile my list! Help me make this the best 29th year I could have. Help me approach turning 30 with joy and peace :)

Help me write my list, and I promise I'll keep you updated every time I check something off! Comment below and I'll update with the final draft picks.

Celebrate year 29 with me, I'm going to make it a great one!

<3 ME

The Whole End

I have been so so behind and lax about my updates lately and I so apologize! Crazy to think that things would be even more busy now that I have a crazy thing like free time haha

Dairy day went well, I didn't have a huge reaction to anything. I was a little bloated the next day, but I think I also ate more on dairy day than I have been especially with the ice cream in question haha

I came down with a cold the day before gluten day and I was definitely glad for my coconut soup recipe!!

Gluten day was super exciting :)

I started the day with a croissant with poached eggs, prosciutto, and some dairy-free hollandaise

It was so so yummy, but I feel like it also would've been yummy without the croissant.

Because the croissants only came in a huge thing of them, I also had one for lunch with some tuna salad and veggie chips.

I was really relishing this being sick and staying in bed today I tell you!

I also took advantage of the time and made my meal plan for life after the 30!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Breakfast	egg muffins	egg muffins	egg muffins	egg muffins	egg muffins	yogurt/granola	casserole
Snack	banana	banana	banana	banana	banana	banana	banana
Lunch	soup	soup	soup	soup	soup	leftovers	leftovers
Snack	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery	nuts/almond butter/celery
Dinner	jerk shrimp	nachos	pork chops	leftovers	turkey burgers

I thought very long and hard about my breakfast options honestly. I got so sick of eggs, eggs, and more eggs during whole30 so the thought of keeping them as my breakfast was kind of sad :/ but none of the other options that I tried kept me as full as the eggs did. I mean, protein is the obvious thing that keeps you full longer. And it's such an easier place to keep completely compliant.

I also planned dinners that were compliant recipes. I can add a whole grain or dairy or something as I want in all of these, but I don't really plan on it.

I left the weekend open without plans though. I'm going to give myself the opportunity to relax and go out to eat or eat a non-compliant meal. Something so that I don't feel so isolated and restricted again like I did in the heavy throes of Whole 30.

Life after Whole30 is going to be a little different, but I want it to be changed. I don't want this journey to be useless, I want to go forward making good and positive changes in my daily routines.

Thank you all so much for reading along with me and supporting me throughout this long journey. Thank you for listening to all my crazy ramblings and musings. I couldn't have done it without you :)

<3 ME

Dairy Day

Let's be honest, I've been so so so excited for this day! Dairy was definitely a staple in my daily diet pre-Whole30. I would have yogurt for breakfast and ice cream has always been my favorite dessert. So removing it from my diet was really difficult. After this long it seems so easy to not have cheese or milk, and I don't even have any butter in the house! But I was really ready to tackle this day and see what the results would be!

I started off with my go-to from pre-Whole30, plain greek yogurt (with just a little bit of honey :/ ) and because it's absolutely FREEZING today some decaf coffee.

It was comforting to have this as my breakfast again, but just like my oatmeal on non-gluten grains day, it didn't keep me full as long as eggs do. There's definitely something to be said for high protein breakfasts, and they really can't be beat as far as getting me from breakfast to lunch. This is a huge quality that I look for in breakfasts because my days are often too busy to eat while I'm working so needing to eat lunch early or count on time for snacks isn't a great quality. Eggs definitely get boring, but it seems as if I might have to work them into my daily routine from here on out. I also know that I'm a little different when it comes to my breakfast needs and preferences. I've always been one of those people that could easily skip breakfast with just a cup of coffee to tide me over until lunch time. I don't wake up hungry like a lot of people, I prefer to be up for a while before I'm hungry enough to want to eat which doesn't work out super well during the work week. But it's not great to skip breakfast. I've heard a lot that if you eat breakfast then you find that you're hungry more quickly and therefore feel like you're eating more throughout the day. This seems like a terrible thing especially if you're attempting to lose weight. Our rationale often tells us that if we just don't eat then surely we'll lose weight. But that's not really true. If we aren't feeding our bodies the nutrients they need, they won't lose weight because they will want to store all the fat they can because our bodies stress out when they think that we're starving. So by eating in the morning we kick start our metabolism which then tells our bodies that it's okay to start burning calories off as we work because it knows that it's been given nutrients. So if we then feed that hungry with good healthy options our bodies will continue to burn off the good foods and let go of excess weight (as long as it's burning more calories than it's taking in). That's where you have to be careful, it's all about portion control. It's okay to eat more often because you're hungry, but probably not huge meals.

But I digress haha

So I was hungry earlier than usual today, but luckily because of the crazy snow flurries today I had a break and could eat my lunch a little earlier.

I had some leftover pork carnitas over a salad with some chipotle ranch and CHEESE! It was pretty good actually :)

I was so excited for dinner tonight! My afternoon was crazily packed with kiddos and I was just counting down the hours until I could get home to cook :)

I made buffalo chicken with cheese and ranch mashed potatoes.

I made Whole30 approved buffalo sauce, but the cheese was dairy enough I thought. Plus I had even better stuff planned for after dinner!!!

ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just simple vanilla, I didn't want to go crazy as I was already adding sugar and vanilla both of which I hadn't had in a month haha Every spoonful was pretty heavenly :)

Dairy day was everything I imagined it would be really. Now I just have to wait and see if I feel any differently as I go back to Whole30 for the next two days. I haven't noticed anything today, no fatigue or digestive issues or headaches. So fingers crossed this will be exactly like the others.

<3 ME

Legume Verdict

Oh my goodness I'm so completely far behind!! I'm so sorry, it's been so crazy lately! But let me give you a quick run down of how things have been going.

So the last day we chatted was the day after I added in non-gluten grains. I was back to Whole30 compliance on Thursday and Friday.

 I had leftover fish tacos for lunch both days, and on Friday I made some Shepherds Pie. It doesn't look that yummy, but it was good and filling and warm :)

THEN on Saturday was LEGUME DAY!!!!! Time to add in legumes (peanuts, beans, chickpeas)

 I just had some sausage and over easy eggs for breakfast, it's pretty hard to add legumes in at breakfast haha.

Then I had a special treat for lunch! CHICK FIL A!!!! Since they cook everything in peanut oil I haven't been able to partake of anything from chick fil a for the course of Whole30, but today I got to add peanuts in :)

 I also treated myself to some lemonade :/, not Whole30 compliant because of the sugar, but I vote close enough!

For snack I added some peanut butter and hummus. The peanut butter was so much sweeter than I remembered! It would've been helpful if I'd bought some no-sugar added PB, but I just used some Jif that we had in the pantry from "before."

 For dinner, I made some pork carnitas and added some black beans.

 I really ended up just mixing it all together into a big salad with some of the chipotle ranch I had made on Wednesday.

Back to Whole30 compliance for Sunday and Monday to gauge my reaction to legumes.

Breakfast on Sunday was close to compliant. I had some sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns at one of our favorite local places to have breakfast on Sundays. It's a donut shop just down the street from our house. No donuts today unfortunately, but it was nice to take a break from making my own sausage and cooking a big breakfast.

 We had set strike on Sunday afternoon and then we had some friends over to play cards and watch the SuperBowl. I made some compliant dips and chicken fingers so I was pretty good overall ;)

 The thing that impacted me the most about Sunday was the fact that we didn't really have lunch or dinner. We had a late breakfast that then morphed into just snacking all evening as we hung out with our friends. At the end of the night, I definitely wasn't feeling as I usually do. I was overfull and my stomach was a little upset. Just giving more support to Whole30's negative stance on snacking in this manner.

All in all, I don't think this was a reaction to the legumes. I hadn't gotten a headache or felt really any different except for the end of Sunday after all the snacking, and that's what I attribute it to the most.

Today, was Whole30 compliant again to prepare for the addition of dairy on Tuesday.
I don't think I noticed any changes to adding legumes. I haven't noticed any significant break outs, headaches, digestive issues, or sluggishness.

I started the morning with egg muffins (sundried tomatoes, basil, and reduced balsamic vinegar) and some cranberry juice.

 I had a leftover chicken finger from last night over a salad. Then for dinner I made the Mediterranean chicken skillet that we had a few weeks ago, with some roasted potatoes.

It was just as yummy today as last time!

So before I go into the rest of the plan of reintroduction, let me give you the run down of recipes from last week.
Shepherd's Pie
Fish Tacos
Thai Meatballs
Hot and Sour Soup -- this one needs some substitutions ;)


Here's my plan for this week

	Monday	Tuesday (dairy)	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday (gluten)
Breakfast	egg muffins	yogurt	egg muffins	egg muffins	croissant
Snack	banana	banana	banana	banana	banana
Lunch	leftovers	taco salad with cheese	soup	leftovers	Chicken salad sandwich
Snack	celery	celery	celery	celery	apple celery
Dinner	Mediterranean Chicken	Buffalo chicken with mashed potatoes// Ice cream	Shrimp and Sausage Skillet	Thai Coconut Soup	Pasta

So Tuesday I get to add dairy back in and on Friday we add in gluten. I didn't plan anything for the weekend, because barring a crazy reaction to gluten on Friday, I'm hoping to take the weekend off from meal planning. To enjoy going out to dinner with Boyfriend and not stressing so much about food. And then hopefully, I can take a fresh look at what my plan will be from here on out.

Sorry it's been so long since my last update, and I'm sorry this post is so long to make up for it haha I really appreciate all of you guys reading my ramblings throughout this whole journey. It's been great to have such a wonderful support group ;)

So here's to dairy tomorrow!

<3 ME

The NGG Verdict

Back to the grind of Whole 30 this morning so that I can cleanse my body and properly analyze if I had any adverse reactions to adding non-gluten grains back into my diet.

Firstly, today was ridiculously busy and I literally only took one picture all day :/ sorry guys haha
Secondly, I'm not finding any huge reactions to adding everything in yesterday.

I woke up pretty sleepy, but that was mostly due to the fact that I didn't sleep particularly long last night because we were out at Biffel's rather late.
However, as the day progressed, my energy level was still consistent and high just like it has been for the past 30 days. I didn't experience an afternoon dip like I did beforehand. I haven't noticed any breakouts or bloating. I didn't have a headache or an upset stomach. Nothing noticeably different I don't think.

I was out of the door super early this morning (and didn't get in until late last night) so I just grabbed a LaraBar, and I'm trying to drink tons of extra water today because my water intake has definitely been slacking this week.

I had leftover fish from last night in a taco salad of sorts over some cabbage and romaine with some of the cilantro lime sauce I made. I'm usually not a fan of leftover fish, but it was actually really yummy and satisfying.

I had leftover tacos tonight for dinner.

It was really good (even the second time) and I added a little chipotle ranch this time.

Somehow at the end of the day, I still feel a little unsatisfied. Maybe it's just because I'm back to the grind of being so completely restricted once again. It's hard to feel so great about adding new things in and getting to have so much fun with friends while I did it, and then feel like you had to give it all back.
Whole30 was a great experience. I felt so great while I was doing it. I felt healthier and lighter, more energetic. But. I also felt slightly isolated. Whole30 compliance is definitely something I want to adapt into my daily life on a regular basis, but for now I'm really ready to take a step away from it for a minute.
Whole30 compliancy reigns again tomorrow and then the addition of legumes on Saturday. I feel a little down about this whole process today really wishing it could hurry up. But I don't want to give up either. I've made it so far, and the reintroduction was the whole point of the journey. So I'm going to stick it out until the end. *Sigh* sometimes stubbornness is hard haha

<3 ME

Welcome Back

Re-introduction Day 1! Here we go.. Today I'm adding back non-gluten grains.

I started off just with a simple bowl of oatmeal

Funnily enough I just taught myself to eat oatmeal maybe a year or two ago. I have some textural problems with food sometimes haha and oatmeal is a really challenging texture for me. But luckily I can handle it in small doses now ;)

I didn't have any strong or immediate reactions to the oatmeal addition. I did get hungry a little earlier in the day than I usually do after breakfast, but I also had a lot less protein for breakfast than I usually do.

For lunch I added in some rice with leftovers of Asian meatballs from Monday.

It was super tasty, and yet again no ridiculous reactions to the non-gluten grain. I don't know that I expected to feel crazily different, but I hadn't yet.

Now dinner was a really special affair! We went over to Biffel's house for game night and tacos! We had fish and steak tacos with some rice and corn (both new additions). I also made a really yummy cilantro lime sauce for the fish and a chipotle ranch for the steak!

I also sneakily added in some non-gluten alcohol this evening:

The best part, honestly, was just getting to have a relaxing evening where I didn't feel like I was having to sit out of the fun, I could eat everything we prepared and it was all so so yummy. I could relax and just have fun. I didn't read any labels (well maybe once for the salsa) and I questioned nothing. Granted I made sauces beforehand that I knew were whole30 compliant, and I helped cook everything so I was there to see everything cooked and knew there wasn't anything used that I couldn't have unlike in a restaurant.
This was really the reason today was so wonderful. Just getting to feel like a part of something instead of constantly being outside of the circle of fun because of how restricted and stressed I was regarding anything with food. This is what I miss more than any food group that I've eliminated over the past month. And it's so nice to have that back for a moment. I'm a little sad to give it back tomorrow.

<3 ME